15-330

Mile 993.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Tortoise very much enjoyed the company of Wounded Duck on his traditional holiday morning walk, and asked him to choose today's title picture.  There are several nice ones to choose from on this fine day, between the walk down to the Virgin River and the climb to the ridge halfway to the La Verkin Overlook.  Today's walking thought is by James Hamula ...

Cheerio!

Wounded Duck leads the way, with the Virgin River to the right through the trees.

Wounded Duck pulls ahead climbing up from the river.
Tortoise has his name for a reason.  :-)

Climbing towards the Overlook

Lou still finds it amazing that James Bond's plane made it under the bridge intact.

Looking back down past River Rock Roasting Company
to the river just climbed from.

Beautiful views from the ridge

Today's walk was 3.65 miles and had a 2.5 tortoise rating earned by climbing 534 feet in the 1.40 mile uphill portion.  Average elevation was 3253.  This walk burned 604 calories in 1:32:00 hours.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

993.05 miles walked which is 99.11% of Lou's 2015 goal.  On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 937.97 miles.  

305:41:25 hours walked which is 97.66% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year).

53,928 total feet climbed, compared with 45,926 feet on this day in 2014.

149,076 calories burned.

90.42% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 171 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 274 of the 283 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.82% consistency rating.  This compares with 270 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 95.41% consistency rating).

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of both distance and of time walked than of the year.  This tells Tortoise that he is on track.  Yes, this is more numbers than you are likely interested in, all Tortoise can say is he's really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because he doesn't do them every, every day.  (If you doubt this, compare Tortoise's walking record up until 2013 with 2014 or 2015 ... for him, it is what it takes to be consistent.  He hopes you find what works for you).

And now for today's walking thought ...

"The ordinance of the sacrament has been called 'one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.' It needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us.  Jesus Christ Himself instituted the ordinance to remind us what He did to redeem us and to teach us how we may avail ourselves of His Redemption and thereby live with God again."

-- James Hamula, "The Sacrament and the Atonement", October 2014 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!